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Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150 MAHATMA ’S CONCEPT OF PEACE: PRESENT RELEVANCE

*Dr.Ramishan M. Manjre, ** Dr.Anuradha H. Patil Head, Department of , Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Shivaji Mahavidyalaya, Udgir (M.S.) Shivaji Mahavidyalaya,Udgir (M.S.)

“The world will live in peace, only when the individuals composing it make up their minds to do so” -M.K. Gandhi

Father of , was the man of and high thinking. No other eminent leader in the realm of the world is so much associated with peace and non- as is Gandhi. So, we will always remember Bapu as a symbol of peace and truth. Peace was central to Gandhi’s political, social and religious and demonstrated to the world the supreme method of achieving .Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Bapu, Mahatma Gandhi or father of the nation, was born on 2nd October, 1869 at Porbandar, Gujrat. 2nd October is celebrated as in and as ‘International Day of Non-Violence’ all across the world as he was sermonizer of non-violence throughout his life. He started movement not only for India’s freedom but also to resolve all conflict in human life. He is still remembered among us as the symbol of peace and truth. For the world’s present and future generation, the whole life of Mahatma Gandhi has been as an example of peace, non-violence, social harmony and communal unity, simplicity and firmness. Every year the world celebrates ‘International Day of Non-violence’ with lots of preparations. The aim of celebrating this occasion is to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as well as to let our future generations know about the struggle made by Mahatma Gandhi in order to establish socio-economic equality, communal equality, sarva dharma samabhav, democracy of enlightened majority.

Gandhiji’s Concept of Peace: The Gandhian philosophy of peace and harmony is based on the concept of the unity in existence. It can be traced back in . The vedantic idealism which is the basic of Gandhian approach teaches the supremacy of the values of eternal truth and justice.1 , a fervent follower of Gandhi explains Gandhian philosophy of peace quoting a Sansktrit Sholka.2 “osnkUrks foKkua fo”okl”psfr “kDr;lfrL;%A ;klka LFkS;Z fuR; “kkfUr le`f) ;fo’;rks txfrAA” It means that Vedanta, vijnan and vishwas are the three forces which when fully and firmly established will inaugurate an era of and prosperity on the earth. Now a question arises as to why peace and harmony should be preferred to conflict? What could be the methods and techniques to attain peace? These questions have been faced by Gandhi time and again. In respond Gandhi explains, “The way of peace ensures internal growth and stability. We reject it because we fancy that involves submission to the will of the ruler who has imposed only so called and that, through our unwillingness to suffer loss of life or property, we are party to the imposition, all we need to change that negative attitude of passive endorsement.”3He thus, prescribes, that society’s growth and stability depend solely on peace. And the way of peace is the way of truth and non-violence.

According to S.N. Prasad, “The most fundamental principle of Gandhiji’s philosophy of peace is “” or non-violence which is law of love, life and creation as opposed to violence or Himsa, the cause of hatred, death and destruction.”4 Gandhiji explains that, the universal human value Ahimsa ought to be cultivated not merely at personal level, but at social, national and international level too, if we wish to avoid personal, social, national and international conflicts. It is a very powerful means to avoid conflict, since it springs from inner realization of the equality of all human beings. Negatively it is absence of mental intention of injuring, harming, disturbing and agonizing opponent and positively it is good will towards all human beings. Non-violence at interpersonal and international levels can be defined as Altruistic approach. As a peaceful technique to injustice it includes a concrete program and leads to self- suffering and sacrifice. For Gandhi ‘ unto death’ is the last step to oppose injustice.Gandhi’s concept of peace and non-violence is integrally related to his world view. Gandhiji developed his world view from a concept of “self” and human nature. Accepting the inherent goodness of human beings, Gandhiji emphasized the capacity of all human beings to develop their full potential of ‘Ahimsa’. He believed that all human beings are part of the divine and they are

VOLUME - IX, ISSUE - III, MARCH 2020 Page No : 59 Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150 interdependent and interrelated. Gandhi’s concept of peace is also a broad one. For him peace came out from a way of life. Therefore peace is closely linked up with justice, development and environment.

Satyagraha as a method to attain peace: Gandhi develops satyagraha as a technique of non-violent unarmed resistance to fight against the injustice and to bring harmony in any society. It begins with the perception of good and evil and non-cooperation with evil, injustice and exploitation. Satyagrahi concentrates on the removal of the evil but at the same time he is supposed to love the evil doer. In the whole process he may have to face self-suffering while resisting non-violently to the particular evil. “Gandhiji’s satyagraha is a battle for righteousness, a dharma yudha. A satyagrahi, therefore, has to undergo rules of restraint-physical, mental and moral, for he is a moral warrior.”5The Gandhian technique of resolving conflict-stayagraha rests on the that striving for transformation of heart has been the most effective method of conducting a struggle. According to Ray, satyagraha is more than a technique of conflict resolution; it is a non-violent way of disclosing truth which involves not only the self-transformation of the person who initiates satyagraha but also of those who are party to a given conflict,6 Sarva dharma samabhav, the way of peace. Gandhian principle of religious tolerance or Sarva dharma samabhav means equal affection and love for all the and faiths by giving due respect to the beliefs, creeds and sects. Gandhi credence’s that there is not only an inherent unity among all the religions in the world, but also they lead us to the same aim based on humanity and love. Striking on the communalism, religious disharmony and intolerance he predicted that, “religions are not for separating men from one another. They are meant to bind them.”7 Gandhi’s vision not only inculcates such values among individuals, but also envisages such role among nation-states to promote ideal world order. It is because Gandhi believed “in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the wold.”8 Gandhi’s holistic concept of equality of religions would mean the mutual tolerance of different systems, that is, ideological, economic, political and social. By embracing Gandhian tolerance it is practicable to abolish the ideological and religious to ensure the establishment of an ideal world order of religious tolerance based on peaceful co-existence.

Gandhiji and : Peace education is that education which develops a society which is free from exploitation, violence and injustice. It is true that Gandhi did not write on peace education in any specific way, but his whole philosophy and life has been, of course, important in peace education not only for India but for other nations of the world as well.9The peaceful world order could not be achieved without the proper training of individual in non-violence through vocational education. In Gandhi’s point of view, basic education to children should be craft-centered. In Gandhian education system physical labour would be as obligatory as mental exercise and there should be total coordination among body, mind and spirit. According to Gandhiji, “by education I mean an all round drawing out of the best in child and man-body, mind and spirit. Literary is neither the end of education nor even the beginning. I would, therefore, begin the child’s education by teaching it a useful handicraft.”10 In the 21st century every day we are living with fear of a , here also the need of Gandhi’s philosophy of moral and character development to establish peaceful social order.

Concluding Remarks: According to Gandhi’s views on peace, there must be the absence of war, injustice and exploitation in society. At a global level, when , all forms of violence is being condemned, religious fundamentalism is reproached, high technology is not going to solve the problems of people, Mahatma Gandhi is the only hope of survival for the whole of the humanity at large. Every citizen of the global family today wants to live with peaceful atmosphere; this atmosphere can only be possible by the Gandhian philosophy.

References: 1) Roy, S.K. 1966. The Political Thought of President Radhakrishnan : Calcatta, P.94 2) Pyarelal. 1959.Towards new horizons : Ahmedabad, P.VI 3) Gandhi, M.K. 1948. Non-violence in peace and war.Vol. I Ahmedabad, P.61 4) Prasad, S.K. 1998. Gandhi Thoughts : Present Relevance : Delhi. P.101 5) Singh, Ramjee. 1983. The relevance of Gandhian Thought : Jalandhar, P.28 6) Roy, Ramshray. 1984. Gandhi, Soundings in : Delhi, P.81 7) Harijan, 08-06-1940, P.157 8) Harijan, 16-12-1934, P.5-6 9) Bose, Anima. 1981. “A Gandhian perspective on peace.” Journal of Peace Research, XVIII (2), P.159-164 10) Harijan, 31-07-1937, P.3 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

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